In ten days (21 April to be exact) I’ll leave on a five-week, 900-kilometer (560 miles) hike down the spine of Italy from the Swiss border to Rome. For those interested, you can track my every step here on this website or you can just come for a visit to have a look at the historical information about the Via Francigena, a wonderful asset that I hope Italy will soon learn to appreciate, develop, promote and take care of.

Okay, so I'm anxious. What of it? I'll admit it (if I have to). I’m anxious to get started because I have been thinking about doing this walk since September of last year and I can hardly wait to put on my boots and hit the road. I'm anxious because I don’t know what I'll find out there, how the services will be, how much cement I’ll have to walk on and if I’ll be stuck talking to myself for eight hours a day for 35 days. I'm anxious for other reasons, but there will be time to labor over those in the future.